Something Red
by roterritter
Summary: After the time skip Naruto starts to wonder where did Sakura get a forehead protector with a red headband. Lee? Gaara! Ino! Naruto’s jealous and overactive imagination is dying to know. NaruSaku. NEW: Sakura's POV over Naruto's black headband!
1. Red Headband

**Something Red**

By: roterritter

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Rating: T to be safe.

Spoilers: Takes place at the beginning of Part 2 of the manga, but before the Akatsuki arc.

Summary: After the time skip Naruto starts to wonder where did Sakura get a forehead protector with a red headband. Lee? Gaara! Ino! Naruto's jealous and overactive imagination is dying to know. One-Shot. NaruSaku.

A/N: This is a one-shot playing with the origin of Sakura's new forehead protector. On the cover of the manga volume 28 and the cover of the Jump that chapter 262 was in, we have color images of Sakura with a red headband for her forehead protector.

This is my first attempt at a slightly humorous pairing story. So, be kind.

* * *

In all of Naruto's travels in two and a half years, he hadn't found a ramen stand as good as Ichiraku Ramen. Yet, even after all that time, all he could do was pick at the noodles with his chopsticks. 

"Hey, Naruto, don't worry," tried Sakura with a worried expression. "It's okay if you're still a Genin, you've been studying under Jiraiya-sama for the last few years so I'm sure stronger than they are now. You beat them once before right, so I'm sure your amazing!"

That was true, but it was still wasn't fair. Sakura is a Chuunin now and he was okay with that, but Neji is a Jounin, and Gaara was the freaking Kazekage! What was next? The last major battle he had after Gaara was Sasuke and he didn't want even think about that.

"Your right Sakura!" he said as he brought up the old mask of fake smiles and cheerfulness.

It apparently worked as Sakura went back to eating her ramen. Naruto started to eat his own before it got too cold, but kept her in the corner of his vision.

"Sakura, I've been thinking, there's something different about you now."

"Really!" she asked as she leaned closer and even blushed a little. "I thought you didn't notice!"

"Y-Yeah," he said. "The headband to your forehead protector is red. Didn't it use to be blue?"

She blinked at him in puzzlement and then gritted her teeth and glare. "Not again! What does it take for you to notice! NA-RU-TO!" The wooden chopsticks she held in her hand broke under her grip.

Having been the subject her glare many times when they were young, always when she was mad at him and usually followed by pain, and being witness to her new strength, he realized he was trouble.

"I-It looks pretty next to your hair," he managed to say while leaning away from her growing fury. Just as sudden as her anger rose it quickly subsided. In fact, she looked happy and was now blushing more than before.

The standard color of the headband for forehead protectors in Konoha was blue, although there were exceptions. He reminded himself that even he had to replace his own blue headband while he was away from Konoha, because the Perverted Hermit's training had worn all his clothes into shreds. He had replaced the original blue from the forehead protector given to him by Iruka-sensei with a long black bandana that left two trailing ends even when tied.

"So where did you get the red one?" he asked.

Sakura looked a little uncomfortable, but then laughed softly, "It was given to me during the last Chuunin Exam I took."

Naruto had more questions, like who and why, he knew his own black one had a story, but before he could ask.

"Naruto? Is that you?"

Naruto turned and saw the man moved past the banners that draped down over the ramen stand's entrance. "Iruka-sensei?"

"Iruka-sensei!" said Sakura in an overly cheerful tone, hinting that perhaps she was happy for the interruption. "I bet you and Naruto have some catching up to, I'll see you later Naruto, okay?"

"Sure," he managed as she walked away with a wave of her hand. Naruto could only watch as she walked away, wondering what he was missing, as Iruka sat down and made an order with the waitress.

"Naruto, how have you been?"

* * *

The first night back in Konoha, Naruto laid in his old bed with his hands folded behind his head while he watched the moonlight filter through the window and fill his old apartment. 

The apartment was in remarkable shape, considering he hadn't been home in two and half years. Given how much people hated him because of Kyuubi, he expected to come back to find it completely trashed, yet Iruka-sensei had explained that after the first time it was vandalized old lady Tsunade had punished those responsible so severely that no one dared to do so again.

It also helped that Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei took turns over the years to repair and clean up any minor damage, to make it perfect for his return. However, he could say much for the bed he had outgrown, the heels of his bare feet dangled off the end and in the air.

Despite that, it was good to be home.

Yet one lingering question remained, who gave Sakura the red forehead protector?

It occurred to him that Sakura had moved on in two and a half years. They followed different paths, especially as they both continued to grow up.

"Sakura's a Chuunin now," he spoke to himself. His soft tone was the only sound in the empty apartment. "She had to take it without me or Sasuke, but who was there to encourage her? Who was there to watch her back? I guess she took it with someone else, another Team."

He guessed that if one person was promoted and the others didn't, the remaining team needed an extra member to take the next exam. He remembered that Shikamaru had been promoted during their first Chuunin exam, which left Chouji and Ino of Team 10 still together. He wondered if Sakura joined their team.

"Poor Chouji, being stuck with two girls in constant mood swings," he chuckled at his own joke, but frowned at the thought.

Was Sakura really a member of Team 10 then? Although he was in a team again with Sakura and Kakashi, was there really a Team 7 anymore? Even if they were back in a team again with Kakashi-sensei, he had been gone longer than Team 7 was together.

"What if Sakura moved on and met someone else!" he asked himself as he gave the ceiling a worried expression.

Somehow, he didn't feel like Tsunade was the type to let Sakura pine away for Sasuke forever, just like how Jiraiya told him to forget his friend. She could have dated, she could be dating someone now. She seemed eager to leave after he brought up the red headband.

Rock Lee wore a red headband.

"Fuzzy Eyebrows?"

Naruto remembered that Sakura got close to slightly older Genin from Gai-sensei's team during the first Chuunin Exam, although he couldn't remember why. He started hitting on her after he first saw her and she treated his advances, much like she did with Naruto's attempts. Yet, something changed, she even brought flowers for Lee's hospital room. She never did that for him, although Naruto thought perhaps because he was never as hurt as Lee.

"What did Lee have that I don't?"

Lee chased after her relentlessly. Check. Naruto had been doing so since they were much younger, ever since he realized she was like himself, not just because she's pretty.

Lee protected her from bad guys. Check. Naruto defeated Gaara to save her. Gaara in Shukaku mode could have eaten the three Sound Genin for breakfast.

Lee could do the nice guy pose. Check. Naruto did so with a promise of a lifetime to bring back Sasuke, the boy she loved.

Lee got hurt. Checkmate. The same boy she loved nearly killed him if it wasn't for Kyuubi.

In the end, perhaps Lee was there when Naruto wasn't. She needed him to cheer her on during the exam. Perhaps he gave her his forehead protector to give her strength.

He couldn't imagine the possibility. His Sakura-chan and Lee together? What would they have, kids with fuzzy pink eyebrows?

"AH!" he yelled as the horrible imagine entered his head. "I'll never get to sleep now!"

* * *

"Yeah, I'm back!" he yelled into the crowd, more scornful than just happy like yesterday. Word had spread and the villagers had gotten out their angry faces to give him glares and tell him how disappointed they were that he didn't stay away. 

He was gone two and a half years and they still acted that way.

Naruto thought back to news that Gaara was now Kazekage. He couldn't imagine it. Gaara was hated and feared, yet for most of his life he only felt that his existence was recognized was when he killed, yet now as a Kage his job was to protect those same people. Naruto wondered if the Suna people still hated Gaara. He hoped not, because he couldn't imagine being Hokage when people still looked at him like they did today.

"Wait a minute, doesn't Gaara have a red headband?" he asked himself, but he smiled at the thought. "But that's just silly. Gaara tried to crush her. There's no way Sakura-chan would have accepted it."

Yet, Shikamaru certainly seemed familiar and comfortable with Temari the day before. Naruto had heard the Sand siblings had helped the others when they fought the Sound Four and even saved their lives, even if he hadn't been around for those particular battles.

Even Gaara had saved Rock Lee.

It wouldn't have been that unusual for the Konoha teams to meat the Suna teams during a Chuunin Exam. With their part in the invasion forgiven and their role in helping against the Sound Four, the teams might have been close compared to the many strangers they would have met in another village.

"But, if Sakura-chan going to date someone with a monster inside them then why not me! Shukaku only has one tail and nine tails have to be better than just one!"

Naruto suddenly realized that trying to give Kyuubi positive attributes in the middle of a street filled with hateful glares was not the best thing to do.

"Hey, Naruto," said a friendly voice. Naruto turned and saw Shikamaru walking toward him in a casual pace.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto was happy, at least it was a familiar face.

"You given any thought about the next Chuunin Exams?"

"Na, I'm on a team with Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan again. We'll be getting a mission soon. Besides, even if you had all those genin come at me at once it could still beat all!"

"Geez, you certainly haven't changed," Shikamaru smiled. Yet, for Shikamaru, in his world of changing troublesome things, if Naruto was still Naruto it wasn't a completely troublesome thing.

"Hey, Shikamaru, do you know who Sakura took the exam with after I left?"

"Eh, Chouji and Ino," he said with a puzzled look. "Since I was promoted they needed another person. Geez, those girls were so troublesome, they gave Chouji and Asuma-sensei a lot of headaches every time they were together."

"Then do you know who gave Sakura-chan the forehead protector with a red headband?"

"Nope, maybe Ino gave it to her," said Shikamaru as he began to walk away. "Look I have to go, I have to take care of the Exam preparations. See you later."

"Ino?"

* * *

Naruto walked deep in thought. 

"Hey, Naruto, how does it feel to be back home?"

He looked up and Jiraiya was sitting on the roof of one of the buildings. Naruto looked around and didn't see half-dressed women anywhere.

"What are you doing up there, Perverted Hermit? Are you doing something perverted when you're suppose to be looking for information on the Akatsuki?" he asked flatly. Naruto never really got how men's clubs, bars, and brothels were good sources for information.

"What? You always expect the worse of me."

"Usually because you do the worse."

It was the same argument that they've had for years.

"What did I do to get an ungrateful apprentice like you?" asked Jiraiya as he rubbed his chin. Then he smiled, "At least Tsunade has a very pretty apprentice."

"Hey!" Naruto screamed louder than usual. "Keep Sakura-chan outside of your perverted fantasies!"

Jiraiya noticed his strange behavior, after all, Naruto had been his constant student for two and a half years. He noticed the subtle shifts in the boy's behavior. "What's wrong with you? Did you forget to complement her again?"

"What?"

Jiraiya sighed as he looked up the sky. "After all this time it appears I failed to teach you about women. I even let you read my books. Your just hopeless."

"Your books are more likely to corrupt my mind than teach me about women," Naruto smirked.

"Says you, but what's your real problem?"

"Ah." Naruto scratched his cheek nervously, "Sakura-chan has a new headband to her forehead protector. She avoided me when I asked about it, I thought maybe she has new boyfriend or someone else that was important to her. It's red so I thought about Genin I knew with red headbands and then Shikamaru thought Ino gave it to her."

"Ino?"

"The girl on Shikamaru's original team."

"Ah," Jiraiya said with a big smile.

"Hey!" Naruto pointed his finger angrily at him, "This isn't one of your stupid books."

"But it could be," Jiraiya smirked as he patted a scroll. "Two young women with a beautiful friendship that becomes something more."

"PERVERTED HERMIT!"

* * *

"What is with you?" 

"Huh? Sakura-chan?" Naruto stopped staring into empty space while he was thinking and turned to find Sakura standing beside him giving him a concerned look.

He looked around, they were standing in the hallway of the Hokage Tower, and Kakashi was late as usual. Soon they would receive their first mission as a team again, the first that he would have since two and a half years of training, yet he wasn't acting excited at all.

For one thing, he remembered he was taller than her now and could easily see the red headband that had taunted his thoughts all night and morning.

"I was thinking," he said softly. He leaned back against the hallway wall and Sakura leaned back as well, watching him carefully. "Sakura, how was your last Chuunin Exam? I remember the one we were in was really dangerous!"

"Hmm, it was okay. It wasn't the same of course, I was placed with Ino and Chouji, I wasn't so sure about that at first and then Asuma-sensei taught me a little bit, said I was almost as smart as Shikamaru," she smiled proudly. "He taught me to use fast thinking and intelligence instead of just physical movement to avoid attacks. Tsunade-sama taught me to evade attacks, but Asuma-sensei taught me to analyze my opponent's movement or the trajectory of his weapons in order to avoid them."

"Wow," said Naruto, but his expression remained thoughtful and serious. "Were there any scary Genin there this time?" he asked, remembering how all the older Genin seemed vicious in their own way.

"Well we were in a foreign country in a rival village so there was some pretty strange ones and some hostility, but Gai-sensei and Kurenai-sensei's teams went with us and we met up with the Suna siblings. She we all watched out for another," she explained. "Surely you faced a few dangerous people while you were gone too?"

Naruto scratched his head and gave her an awkward smile. "Yeah, but that was usually because I stuck my nose in someone else's troubles and got involved just because I wanted to help, but I remember how dangerous the Chuunin exam we took together was."

Sakura smiled, somehow imagining Naruto getting into every situation that he shouldn't have. "No one crashed the other one, like Orochimaru did. What's with the questions?"

"Well," he said as he scratched his cheek nervously with his eyes closed, making look particularly fox-like with the lines on his face. "I was wondering who encouraged you and watched your back?"

Sakura looked at him, knowing he wasn't saying everything that was one his mind, but she decided to answer one question at a time. She stepped out into the hallway, away from so that he only saw her back, and thought about her answer and what it might mean to him or reveal about her.

She turned her head and he could see a warm smile and confident look in her eyes. "I promised myself I would be able to protect my important people. It gave me strength to keep fighting even if they weren't there. I also had a friend who stood by my side."

Naruto stared at her in amazement, but his thoughts were jumbled and going in different directions. He was well aware that important people made a person strong, although being away from Konoha for so long he had to keep them in his mind too, even if they weren't there. He guessed one of her important people was Sasuke, but she said people. Who were the others and who was this friend? He thought his fears were true.

"Was this friend the one who gave you the red headband?" he asked carefully.

"Ino did," she said.

"Eh!" It was the worse outcome. At least with Lee or Gaara perhaps he had fighting chance of winning her back!

Sakura pointed at the red headband and smiled, "This is the same ribbon that Ino gave me when we were kids." Naruto blinked in surprise. "It became a symbol of our friendship, but I," she stopped, looking a little guilty, "I gave it back to Ino after we became Genin and declared we were rivals."

"But you guys were friends again after the first Chuunin exam," he said, he remembered that part.

"Right, but I never asked for the ribbon back," she told him. "But during the other Chuunin exam before the tournament she gave it back to me as a gift, with a forehead protector on it, so I could wear it as again as a symbol of our friendship and as a ninja."

"That's so cool," he told her happily, all his fears were gone. "That's so much better than everything I was thinking of."

The last slipped before he realized it. It would have been better if he hadn't said anything at all.

"Like what?" she smirked. Clearly, Naruto had been uncomfortable with the subject, so she was curious as to why.

"Well I thought," he laughed uncomfortably, "that maybe someone special, like…a boyfriend…gave you the…headband."

Sakura laughed hard at that, amused that Naruto had somehow come to that conclusion. "I don't have a boyfriend…Tsunade-sama doesn't give me the time for such things. I've been training constantly too you know."

Naruto's face brightened with that information, of course she wasn't going to tell him she still had feelings for Sasuke or that she felt a crush for Naruto himself when he first returned, although that didn't last long or so she told herself.

"So," she said after wiping the tears from her eyes from such hard laughter, "I told you about mine, so what about your black one?"

"Ah, this?" Naruto's face twitched nervously as he pointed to his black bandana. He knew the story behind it wouldn't make her happy, in fact it might get him hurt. He started to inch away from her slowly as her eyes narrowed on him and the smile left her face. "I think I hear my name, I have to go!"

Naruto started running with a fuming Sakura behind him.

"NA-RU-TO!"

* * *

_Author's Note: Although nothing was ever said in the manga, I figured it was logical for Sakura to be not only a part of Team 10 on the next Chuunin exam, but also learn something from Asuma. I thought teaching her to use her brain to evade would be something he would teach and also go along with what Tsunade has taught her. _

_I also left Sakura's important people. Letting Naruto not realize he's one of them so it wouldn't conflict with future manga events. _

* * *

Version 1.0 

1.0: Original


	2. Black Headband

**Something Red**

A/N: Well it started as a one-shot, but due to several requests, I've written a sequel (technically another one-shot), this time it is Sakura's point of view over Naruto's black bandana for his forehead protector. Just like the first chapter, this one weaves in and around some events of at the beginning of the arc.

Thank you for all the reviews, the humor and romance genres are not my usual area of writing, so I was very happy to hear it worked. Writing from Sakura's POV this time was a little more challenging. There isn't a canon object, like the red ribbon in Sakura's case, to tie the black bandana too. Instead, I've chosen to be a little creative. I hope it works!

* * *

**Chapter 02 – Something Black**

It was like old times and yet it wasn't.

Sakura followed Naruto outside of the Hokage Tower, her anger still burning at his choice to escape rather than tell her the story behind the new black bandana for his forehead protector. She told him about hers and it was only fair that he told her about his, but the way he acted infuriated her more. Just what about the story did he not want tell her about?

Her anger quickly disappeared as she stepped outside. Naruto was there, standing outside of the tower while looking around with a thoughtful smile on his face, perhaps lost in memories as he recognized buildings he hadn't seen in years.

"Did you miss it?" she asked.

"Yup," he smiled with a happy look in his blue eyes.

"Knowing you, your probably remembering which buildings where you played a prank and where you were caught," she teased him.

They laughed together at the thought.

Naruto the prankster was the first thing that popped into her memories, now things were different, Sakura couldn't just think about Naruto's childhood as a prankster. She now thought of his childhood as a boy with a demon fox inside of him. _Sealed_ inside, she reminded herself. She carefully distinguished the monster the others thought Naruto was as something different from the determined boy she knew.

Sakura now knew the secret. She didn't know how to tell him that she knew and so she decided to act as she always did, yell at him if he said something stupid and give him a warm smile if he said something that made her happy. To her surprise, it was still natural to do those things, but now that she knew differently, how could it ever be like old times again?

Many times on a sleepless night, she reexamined her memories using new information she had learned. She used to think he was selfish, causing trouble because he had no parents to punish him, but now she knew differently, that he was only trying to get attention, even if it wasn't they type he was expecting.

Sakura looked around and realized for the first time she truly seeing it, the reaction of the villagers as Naruto stood among them. She watched the hateful gazes as people watched him from a distance or the small sneer on their lips as they passed by him. Of course, it was likely she had seen them before, but she hadn't known what they meant or likely, hadn't even cared, but things were different know because now she knew the truth.

"Hey, Naruto," she spoke up, trying to keep her voice steady. Even if the glares weren't on her, they made her nervous. "Lets go back inside and wait for Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto turned to her and to her disbelief, he was still smiling, "Why? Kakashi-sensei will probably go through this entrance to get inside anyway."

Sakura's mind was reeling. Didn't he see it? Didn't it bother him? Why was he smiling as if nothing was wrong?

Instead of saying any of this, she smiled and nodded her head yes. She decided if Naruto was strong enough to bare it, then she would stay by his side. Yet, a lingering doubt filled her, knowing what she knew, how could it be like it was before?

"Kakashi-sensei's late like he used to be. He doesn't look different either. I guess he hasn't changed at all!" Naruto looked at her with a fox-smile, grinning ear to ear with his eyes squinted and the whisker-like lines highlighting his face.

"No, I don't think he's changed at all." Sakura was grateful for a change of topic. She searched her memory for anytime she's interacted with Kakashi during the two and a half years. "Same clothes, same hair, and always with one of his perverted books. Did you have to give him a new one?"

"Why not? Perverted Hermit has been busy training me instead of writing," he frowned for a second, "although that didn't cut down on his _research_. I just thought Kakashi-sensei would be excited to have the new book, although I don't understand them myself."

Sakura sighed, not certain to be upset that Naruto didn't seem to understand adult matters yet or relieved that Jiraiya hadn't corrupted him, although, from what she had seen, even that was questionable.

Before she could reply, a familiar puff of smoke revealed a familiar teacher.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to help an old lady cross the street."

Sakura and Naruto yelled in unison, "LIAR!"

Sakura smiled, realizing there was nothing to fear.

It was like old times.

* * *

The meeting for their mission assignments had gone well, despite her having to restrain Naruto before he said something that would set off the Fifth Hokage, although the news that the Akatsuki had captured Gaara had left her worried and not for Gaara. 

The team agreed to meet in front of the gates at a certain time and they went their separate ways to pack. Naruto had it the easiest, since he had just gotten back, but Sakura knew she had to take special care in packing an assortment medical supplies in case she needed them.

She rushed to her home and laid her backpack on her bed while gather camping gear, ninja weapons, and medical supplies. Her thoughts were on the new mission and on Naruto while she did so.

Naruto seemed almost happy to be leaving Konoha so quickly, but she couldn't blame him. She began to wonder what sort of life Naruto had outside of Konoha, without villagers who gave him angry glares and children told to stay away from him.

"I guess if they didn't know about Kyuubi or were never told that he was a bad person, then maybe they would see him for who he is," she told herself.

With her backpack packed, she approached a mirror for one final inspection. She straightened her forehead protector and looked at the red ribbon it was attached him.

Sakura giggled at the thought of what conclusions Naruto had come to about the origin of her red headband. Then she looked serious, if Naruto came to the idea so easily that she had a boyfriend to give her the red headband, then perhaps it was because he had a girlfriend who gave him his. In fact, the more she thought about it the more it made sense, he did run away quickly after she asked.

Come to think about it, he hadn't acted his normal self, she thought he matured, but he hadn't noticed how she changed or said 'Good Morning Sakura-chan' once!

"He probably met someone who treated him with a bit of kindness for once and he attached himself to her like a lost puppy," she told her reflection while frowning. "But what about me? He used to follow me around saying Sakura-chan all the time at the worst moments, interfering with my love life, and since he's been back hasn't done it once! I thought it was maturity, but am I that replaceable!"

_"Damn it!"_ yelled Inner Sakura inside her head. _"How dare that bastard get a girlfriend after leaving me here alone!"_

Sakura shook her head in a moment of inner conflict, telling herself that Inner Sakura did _not_ sound jealous. "What am I thinking? Of course, it's good if Naruto met someone nice. He deserves it. Why should I care if he has a new girlfriend?"

She chuckled softly, but turned her back from her reflection in the mirror, afraid to look at her uncertain eyes any longer.

* * *

To Sakura's surprise, she was the first one to the gate. 

She hadn't expected Kakashi to be there on time, but figured Naruto would have been there packed and impatient to leave, especially since he just got back to Konoha, assuming he hadn't unpacked his gear yet.

Sakura found a place to wait that was out of the way and started thinking. Her thoughts should have been on the mission, but she found herself thinking about the black bandana again.

She started to think of it as a puzzle to solve. The first piece was figuring out where he was during the two and a half years.

"He wasn't in the Fire Country, no one has seen or heard anything about him during their missions, besides if someone was looking for him the Fire Country is the most obvious place to look. He probably wasn't in one of the greater counties either, besides for the Suna, the others have dangerous rival villages, and he wasn't in Suna or he would have known about Gaara. Jiraiya-sama probably took him to a lesser country, but anywhere near the Rice Field Country would have been dangerous too."

All that left were a handful of lesser countries, but she didn't have any more information.

"But some of them are so foreign."

Her mind began to work into overtime, thinking of every possibility because unlike Naruto, she didn't have a list of suspects. Except for Temari, she didn't know any foreign women personally and she was often so busy with training that she hadn't left the Fire Country except for her second Chuunin exam and when she followed Tsunade on official business.

"I wonder why it bothers me so much?" she asked herself.

"What is?"

"T-Tsunade-shishou!" she stuttered in surprise. She was nervous like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Nothing."

Tsunade smiled. It wasn't a regular smile, it was a smile she got when she could see someone was bluffing, which would mean a big win for herself. She knew it wasn't nothing and Sakura knew that she knew.

She straightened up, trying to save some dignity and spoke as if it was just a curiosity, "I was wondering Naruto got his new black headband for his forehead protector, but he won't tell me."

"Oh, that. I noticed it as well, but it hadn't bothered _me_." There was a teasing tone hidden in the woman's voice.

"He's my teammate, I'm only curious about his experiences outside of Konoha!" Sakura argued, but decided it was safer to change the subject, "Did you come to see us off?"

"Yes and I wanted to tell you that Temari has already left and headed back to Suna. She left before the news about Gaara arrived, so I doubt she's in any hurry. If you see her on the way, you should inform her of the situation. I suspect she'll want to travel with you the rest of the way. She would also be helpful to get your team through Suna as quick as possible."

"Right," she answered.

Sakura thought about the foreign kunoichi. She was on friendly terms with the older girl, technically a young woman now. Temari was coming and going from Konoha a lot. She was also with Shikamaru much of the time, although the two quickly deny it is anything but professional work.

Could Naruto have met an older kunoichi that was beautiful and exotic?

She laughed at herself, realizing she was being silly about the whole matter. What did it matter to her? He probably met many people, some dangerous, some beautiful, and some who were both. It didn't mean he found a girlfriend out of any of them. She couldn't picture Naruto with someone like that.

"I'm being silly thinking he had a girlfriend. He was suppose to be training like me, if I didn't have time then why should he have the time?"

Tsunade smiled at her, enjoying her situation. "True, but if I would guess, maybe someone gave him the bandana in return for something he did."

"Not everyone bets her most valuable possession to a stranger," Sakura told her.

"What? I didn't mean they had to bet him for it, it's just a headband after all," Tsunade argued, but she smiled slyly as she looked at Sakura, "But he could have gotten it for rescuing a girl. You know there are all sort of tales of the hero rescuing the princess and being rewarded with her silk scarf. Naruto seems the sort to do anything to rescue someone."

"Eh!" Sakura looked at Tsunade in shock. The very possibility had her eyes about to jump out of their sockets in disbelief, but she remembered that Naruto fought his hardest to save her from Gaara, but she never got around to thanking him. What if he did the same for some other girl and she had?

Tsunade was enjoying herself as she continued innocently, "I wonder what a kunoichi might reward him with for saving her life? The bandana, of course, but maybe also a kiss."

"EH!"

"That's assuming it was a kunoichi, after he was traveling with Jiraiya!" She let her own anger at the frog tamer out, "He made a new book, that must have means he had to do his _research_ somewhere and who knows what sort of places he dragged Naruto into and what type of women he met or who may have _rewarded_ him."

"STOP IT!"

Sakura froze, realizing everyone in the area heard her scream. They might not have known why she screamed, but she suddenly felt embarrassed for feeling this way.

"Sakura-chan!"

Naruto suddenly appeared, surprising her as he dropped to his feet inches away from her after he jumped from the roof of nearby building. He looked around frantically with a serious face, but it changed into confusion as he couldn't see anyone but Tsunade standing near Sakura.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" she yelled, changing her embarrassment into anger.

"I-I heard you scream," he told her as he backed away carefully as he watched her sudden anger. "I thought you were trouble so I ran here as quick as I could."

Tsunade stepped between them and patted him on the shoulder, "Ah, it was nothing Naruto, I was just teasing Sakura a bit."

Sakura turned away, feeling her face burning as she blushed.

Kakashi arrived as usual, in a puff of smoke and a perverted book in his hand.

"Ah, everyone is already here," he said casually, although he looked back to look at a blushing Sakura, a smiling Tsunade, and a confused Naruto in-between them. "Is something wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" said Sakura with a nervous laugh.

Kakashi didn't think it was nothing, but he let it go, "Well then, should be off?"

However, Naruto shook his head, "But Iruka-sensei said he was going to see us off! He's not here yet!"

"Alright, we can wait a little bit."

Tsunade's smile grew a little as she thought of something to pass the time. "You know Sakura, some of the greatest ninja in Konoha are perverts. There is a long line of them, from teacher to student, including the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Naruto."

"What!" yelled Sakura. Tsunade was clearly trying to bring back the topic of their previous conversation to her displeasure. Of course, if Naruto were pervert then he wouldn't have minded where Jiraiya would have dragged him to: bars, clubs, and_ brothels_!

An image entered Sakura's mind. She imagined a mature, voluptuous woman in a brothel taking away Naruto's innocence in a loveless night of passion.

"_NOOOOO!_" screamed Inner Sakura in frustrated agony, about ready to pull out her hair. That is if Inner Sakura had real hair. The real Sakura managed to keep herself in control. It was okay, of course, that couldn't happen, the idiot didn't even notice her when she tried to get him to comment on how her curves had filled out. It simply wasn't possible, she hoped…

Meanwhile, Kakashi placed his book back in his pouch in nonchalant way, as if he had no idea what she was talking about, "That isn't true."

The Fifth was tapping her foot in irritation, she obviously didn't believe him. "Uh huh."

"Why are you talking about this all the sudden?" asked Naruto with an uneasy look. He still had a lump from Sakura for talking about his new perverted technique.

"What a minute," said Sakura as she was thinking about in her head. "You said from teacher to student, but didn't you miss someone…Kakashi-sensei teacher?"

Naruto thought about it too, "Which would be Perverted Hermit's student."

"The Fourth!" they yelled in unison.

Kakashi cleared his voice, "It's best not to talk about that." He quickly looked around for something to change the subject. "Hey, Naruto, I noticed you have a new headband!"

Naruto blinked in surprise as the conversation changed tracks, but he suppose it was better than the previous one, especially with a volatile pair of females near him.

"Y-Yeah, I got after my old one got torn up," he told them. He pointed to it proudly, "But it's the same forehead protector that Iruka-sensei gave me."

Sakura listened carefully, while trying not to appear _that_ interested in it. After all, why should she care? It wasn't like she wanted to be Naruto's girlfriend instead of some foreign girl and she certainly wasn't jealous that someone else got to show Naruto some affection that he was never given in the past. It wasn't as if she cared that some other girl was in his heart instead of her.

Really, she didn't or so she told herself.

She hadn't let go of Sasuke despite Tsunade's warnings and told herself that she would protect him. In order to understand him, she did a lot of research on Sasuke and the Uchiha clan over the two and a half years. She only learned that Kyuubi was sealed inside of Naruto due to the connection between Naruto and Uchiha Itachi.

It wasn't like she was searching for the secret of Naruto's pain, but now that she knew, she learned to understand him instead.

Sakura couldn't hold it in anymore, "But where did you get the bandana itself?"

He blinked in confusion, prompting her to grab him by the collar.

"I…don't…"

"Did you get it from a girlfriend your hiding in another country!" she yelled as she shook him around. By now, Inner Sakura was in control.

"What?"

"Or did some girl give it to you after rescuing her from bad guys!"

"N-No."

Sakura looked at him with eyes that scared him as she spoke in a tone that hinted at barely controlled rage, "Don't tell me that you got it from some prostitute you slept with in brothel that man took you to!"

"WHAT! Sakura-chan, what are talking about?"

Sakura let him go, laughing nervously in embarrassment. She realized that Naruto hadn't done anything she feared.

"But why did you run away instead of telling me?"

"Ah…well…I promised to help someone a while back, which Perverted Hermit said was pretty stupid to start with, but I fought some really tough opponents, but I was hurt pretty badly for a while. I nearly died, but when I woke up the person I helped gave me the bandana. I was afraid to tell you since I was almost killed."

"What?"

He gave her a big ear to ear grin, "If I died I wouldn't be able to keep my promise of a lifetime to you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura looked at him shock, realizing he felt bad for almost breaking the promise he made years ago. A promise he intended to selflessly fulfill no matter how much he hurt himself, as long as she was happy in the end.

It was like old times, but this time she swore she would protect him as well.

* * *

_Author's Note: Some of you might be surprised by that "origin", but I didn't want to give him a girlfriend or something if he was thinking about Sakura like he did in the previous chapter. It would make him hypocritical and I didn't want that. Instead, I thought it was more amusing that Sakura believed all of these things. So I left a rather vague origin to the bandana. _

_Actually, I left the ending the way it was in the first chapter to be humorous, but after actually thinking about it, I don't think Naruto would have thought Sakura thought about him in that way since he accepted her feelings about Sasuke years ago. It had to be for a different reason that made sense. I hope it did at least…_

* * *

Version 1.0 

1.0: Original


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